Monday, August 1, 2011

Greg Carmack joined The Dizeazoes in 1975. He was, as Paul Wheeler says, "quite the wizard on guitar", but, as is usually the case with wizards, was also,"an odd chap".

Wheeler remembers that Carmack was a big fan of Barbara Streisand ("I'm not putting that down," says Wheeler. "I was a big fan of Nancy Sinatra at the time."), and The Velvet Underground, and was responsible for turning Wheeler on to White Light / White Heat. He was known around town for his confidence (arrogance?) and made a point to not play in St Louis rock bands. Wheeler was surprised when he agreed to join the band.

"This guy could play guitar, but was a bit hard to work with," recalls Wheeler. "He put up with us, I think, because we didn’t care that he never bothered to learn the material, we let him play whatever the hell he wanted for the leads, and in certain songs allowed him to go on for as long as he liked... He had been playing steel guitar when I ran into him, but made a point of not playing in St Louis rock bands. I asked him to play with us and he surprised me by agreeing."

Wheeler remembers that he often acted "like a spoiled brat" during practices, but that his work was always superb. On one occasion he asked Carmack to hang out after a rehearsal. Carmack's response was unusually usual.

"He told us, 'No. I'll play in the band, but we're not friends'," says Wheeler, who has since lost touch with Carmack.

"He was an amazing guitarist," continues Wheeler. "Sometimes in his leads his don't give a shit attitude was just brilliant. Check out his lead on 'Down On The Street', where he takes about half a minute to adjust his tone before starting the lead. Meanwhile, his guitar just roars. I loved it!"